Wintercrest: Fragments of Fate

Chapter 2

Giants Attack!!

Summary 1Yelena and Wyaming away at other areas of the Winter Festival, Lorna is seated by herself, counting winnings. Adrik and Faemeril, both adventurers from the Guild seated nearby, Dirk says hi. Small explosion across town. Dirk leaves to join a couple guards headed that way, party begins to follow. Silwen approaches Dredgden, having seen him in a vision, and says that she is meant to follow him.

Scouts on horseback blowing horns headed toward keep, giants are coming! Announcement: guards to north gate, adventurers scout city. Valen and The Defiant Circle look at pocket watch and toward where sun would be and leave together. City mobilizes, mechanical sentries take to the sky, dragon and griffons come from Arcane District. Wyaming drops from roof, says 15-20 foot tall giants trying to breach front wall.

Silwen hears voices down alleyway. Ogres and humanoid leader. Party (including new members Adrik and Faemeril) gets the drop on them.

Battle
Two Ogres, a wizard, and four conjured fire elementals.

Summary 2Yelena comes running down street, screams giant in city. Hill giant steps out, kills her with one swing. Skills challenge, party successfully flees giant. Return to Yelena’s body – she is dead. Bring body back to Guild, which is flooded with adventurers and elders handing out assignments. Dead wizard helping Ogres and Giants had symbol showing allegiance to Primordials.

The next day, the Winter Festival is announced as the passing of the season of Sehanine and the coming season of The Raven Queen. The party enjoys various games and contests. They visit a fortune-teller who interprets their dreams.

Dredgden will revisit his people.

Lorna’s mother is alive but not in the way she might expect.

Great things await the party – they needn’t seek out danger, for it will come to them.

Erasmus wants party to meet Wintercrest City Council to formally congratulate and reward them. Erasmus leads party to royal hall. In front of them are 9 people in robes (4 women, 5 men: 4 humans, 3 half elves, an Eladrin, and a Goliath). They congratulate party, award armor, and ask by what name they be called. The party decides on “The Natural Ones”.

Stop the Tunneler!

Summary
Talk to Foreman Andersen tell him not dwarves but kobolds, tells us pieces of mechanical spider are from the piece missing in factory. Walk out side to discover it has snowed can hear metal guards walking the city. all is quiet for now.

Magistrate announces that the harvest festival is still going to happen. walk back to guild on the way there Yelena find a cat with wings (her familiar). Back at Adventurer’s Guild, Erasmus Polonius Hyalmar III informs us neutralizing agent almost complete, situation at north end under control, guards are keeping an eye out for Rufian, The Dark Ones and the Longtooth leader have been delivered to the guard. Thanks to the map uncovered, eight bombs have been located at power facilities around town, along with a half dozen under the walls. making almost all 20 uncovered.

Little information is learned from Leader or Dark Ones. Leader says Rufian, Dark Ones not trust worthy but useful. However, we learn from the Black Heel helping to build tunnel

Chemicals and Machine Parts

Summary 1
After the defeat of their Leader, many smaller Kobolds take to throwing stones at the party while kobold guards attempt to hold them back. Party makes its way to room guarded by two armed kobolds, who stand aside. Party unlocks door with Leader’s gold key and find the kobold Alchemist and a Dark One arguing. Chemicals all over the place, very dangerous, including some vials of Elemental Residue. Vial knocked off shelf breaks and eats pits into floor. Kobold angry and wants to fight, but Dark One allows party to take whatever they want.

Party collects scraps of evidence, chemicals, including a warm reddish clay, bring all back to The Adventurer’s Guild. Guild filled with hurt parties from ambush in Red Tail territory. They have been setting traps, collapsing tunnels to prevent people getting to bombs. City Guard is taking over as matter of security.

Papers given to Erasmus. Orders indicate 20 bombs made. Clay is Pyrosytheum – a powerful amplifying agent from the Elemental Chaos. Guild Alchemy Master can use it to reverse-engineer an airborne agent that will render all bombs with this substance inert.

More written evidence says “second fragment recovered,” apparently from the textile shipment in Session 1.

Summary 2
Power plant has line of Dwarves out front. Orsik is in line, explains that Foreman Andersen believes that the Dwarves are involved in the repeated theft of machine parts. Eyewitness named Marcus saw. Andersen takes party through factory to show where parts taken from, find Marcus. Chambers made of Celestium hold fire elementals that are used to power factory.

Marcus heard metal unscrewing, late shift, saw Dwarf leading two or three others, who ran into shadows. Dwarf has funny scar on eye. Andersen has never seen anyone matching description, leads party to back room where thefts happened. Small panel on floor has no screws – covers tunnel into ground. Party sets several net traps and camps until late night, when several kobolds and a mechanical spider invade room.

Summary 1Valen busts in, complains a one-eyed Dwarf ambushed his party while they were investigating Zarfan‘s house, believes there is a conspiracy. Zarfan’s house has been empty, kidnapping was suspected. One of his party is now dead. Valen angrily blows off Lorna’s questions.

Party investigates Zarfan’s house, door still unlocked. Talk to neighbors, who describe fight, mention one-eyed Dwarf. Seen him before – he was invited into Zarfan’s 3 or 4 days ago. Zarfan knows Rufian is a shapeshifter. Zarfan’s house looks purposefully ransacked – not a kidnapping. Party finds list of ingredient for explosives, note indicates liquid ingredient is made in Longtooth territory.

Interrogations and Battle Training

Summary 1
Bring kobolds back with us to Adventurer’s Guild. One is Tikwik (sleeping door guard) and other has symbol on head (spiral with 9 equal spaced dots). On creatures: heavy shielded metal container (saltpeter, charcoal, sulfur). Swirl-headed kobold appears unresponsive. Find out from Erasmus that the symbol is that of Tharzidun (The Chained God). Zara is disturbed by the mark. She recognizes it.

Tikwik explains they got bomb materials from a spy who works for their leader. Tikwik describes the spy as a Red Tail Kobold, but with only one eye. Party drops Tikwik off at north end of town.

Summary 2
Winter weather more apparent now, heavy wind, airship brings in cargo that appears to include fire elementals in cages. Tents being built. Festival is in 3 days. Zara left party unexpectedly and disappeared, leaves note. Yelena, joins the party and offers to help. Long time friend of Zara’s, who is her spiritual guide. Guild healer says swirl-headed kobold had parasite from The Far Realm inside brain.

QuestErasmus has a Dwarven healer take party to small junk yard to practice battle against several machines that represent different types of monsters.

Investigating Rufian’s Escape Route

SummaryKrenlik tails party and give them an alchemical “weed killer” , and a bottle of Rust Monster Extract good for 4 uses. He says he was thinking about what Ancka told him – that the friend “appeared to him” as a Longtooth. If he’s not really a Longtooth, then what if he is really a Black Heel or Red Tail? Or what if he isn’t even a kobold? See Faerlon the Mapmaker, buy map of town, order custom map of sewer system avail in 2 days.

Quest
Investigate sewers under keep where Rufian escaped and look for clues as to how to track him down. We find an opening, Red Tail clan territory. slide down, and actually goes much deeper into some underground caverns. Above it is more draconic graffiti.

There is an older looking sewer system here, that clearly suffered a number of collapses down here and new, smaller channels dug. Reach what appears to be a dead end, but fissure in the wall approx 2 feet wide. Squeeze through and approach a locked door, Wyaming picks lock. Beyond it is a carved tunnel that extends as far as the light will reach in either direction. Every 80 feet a lantern is posted. Every 40 feet from each, a 10ft deep hollow is carved into the walls on either side. There are a couple locked gates between the keep and the outside, guarded by kobolds.

Battle
A patrol includes one stone elemental, two Vinehorror, a kobold slyblade and guard. we win, but take considerable damage. Tie kobolds up.

The Longtooth Clan

Summary Part 1
Ding! Milestone! Party notices small sack floating along the edge of the water that smells vaguely musky and a trail of blood floating out of it (it’s like chum used to attract sharks). 2:30am.

Some areas have a thin orange or violet slime(noticed by Ancka), vaguely glowing on the surface of the water. The sound of water pumps can be heard echoing(Complex skills challenge to locate kobold lair). As they get close, they notice chunks of ice in the water, though the sounds of water pumps get louder. (4:00 am.)

Leads to curved opening near the cliff’s edge (opens to side of cliff). Breeze gently blows out of cave opening. Cage hangs from ceiling. Kobold with sunrod is seen talking with a couple guard kobolds and a scout, with mechanical fire beetles. All three are in front of large crack in a masonry wall – looks older than the sewers. The guards seem upset. Little one says the monster “will get them”, he lured it out and fled.

Battle
two guards, beetle, slyblade, ranged, minion. Kill all but 2, Krenlik being one of them.

Rewards part 1Dredgden – Bashing Shield, Amulet of Protection which went in bag of holding

Summary Part 2
question Krenlik, from Long Tooth Clan, knows about Rufian who Krenlik thinks is also part of the LTC, tell him that Rufian is a shapeshifter, but he does not understand at first. Krenlik tells party that Priest (can curse) is head of clan. He leads party to where they can find the Priest. As party walks, see partially unburied statue down hallway that looks like Giant, hallway opens up to large room with stone arches, room has cubby holes filled with skeletons, human like statue in room, Krenlik points party down hall where priest will be. Room of Priest has altar where he speaks to spirits, room is to the west under the city. Priest is guarded by Dark Ones and kobold guards, threatens party, party leaves.

Follow that Kobold!

Summary Part 1
Escorted back to Adventurers Guild after bring Rufian and Zarfan Cantalever to keep.Navah notices we are being watched by someone or something
Party has had an extended rest. Kobold spies stealth in and attack party in their sleep. They come up through floorboards.

Fight 1
Fight Kobolds that are attacking party Fight location 1:
divided up by sleeping arrangements.